Astros’ Altuve, Lowrie provide rare level of production at second base, shortstop

One will be in Kansas City on Tuesday night. One will be just relaxing. You can argue they should be reversed or that both should be in the National League’s royal blues, but after Tuesday night, it doesn’t matter.

What does is that with Jose Altuve manning second base and Jed Lowrie at shortstop, there is an easy case that the Astros have the best middle infield in their league and could for quite some time. Both are coming into their prime and are several years away from free agency.

It’s quite a rarity for an offense to be led by its two middle infielders, usually positions reserved for good glove men whose offense is a bonus.

Not so in Houston. Altuve’s statistics, starting with a .303 batting average, will be on display Tuesday night at the All-Star Game, where he’ll be the lone second baseman off the bench backing up Atlanta’s Dan Uggla. Altuve, still just 22, also leads the Astros with 20 doubles, helping him to a .438 slugging percentage.

The more complete statistical profile belongs to Lowrie, 28, who leads all Astros with 14 home runs and also leads the club in walks, giving him a .343 on-base percentage to go with a team-best .461 slugging percentage.

Between the two of them, they have the highest wins above replacement (an all-encompassing offense and defense metric) in the NL, with Lowrie at 2.6 and Altuve at 2.0.

“It’s pretty rare to have that, especially the power from those guys — and obviously, what Tuve is able to do for us getting on base and driving in runs and being a catalyst,” manager Brad Mills said. “Both those guys being a catalyst for our offense is huge.”

And both of those guys being catalysts for the offense is also backward.

Shortstop is the weakest offensive position in the National League on average, and second base is the second weakest, whereas on the Astros, they’re the strongest and second strongest.

Adding to the backward nature, the average NL club is led offensively by its right fielder, while Astros right fielders have the lowest on-base plus slugging in the league.

Maybe, despite Altuve’s size and Lowrie’s history of injuries, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Altuve has hit at every level where he’s ever been assigned, while Lowrie just wanted the chance. His playing time was diminished by injuries in Boston, but he had a feeling this was coming.

“I always knew that if I stayed healthy that I could be a high-doubles guy and, as I continued to get stronger and mature, that some of those doubles would go out (of the park),” said Lowrie, who played on the other side of the second-base bag at Stanford.

Tonight will mark a disappointment for him, passed on by the fans in favor of Rafael Furcal, by the players in favor of Starlin Castro and by Tony La Russa in favor of Ian Desmond, who was injured and replaced by outfielder Michael Bourn.

“I thought I warranted a selection, but it’s somewhat out of your hands after you put up the numbers,” Lowrie said.

As for Altuve, his peers (though very few by age) recognized that he is among the best around, and he won the player vote outright to be on the roster tonight.

“I feel really excited to represent the Astros in the All-Star Game in my first full year,” Altuve said. “That means a lot to me.”

And on a roster loaded with youth and little production from the typical offensive spots, he and Lowrie mean a lot to the Astros lineup.